Times are tough and letting agents have to come up with more and more innovative strategies to derive fees in a shrinking market. While out-of-the-box thinking is a valued commodity, it is not to be confused with out-of-your-head thinking.

One senior agent - respected in his niche and something of a raconteur at free bar functions - recently embarked upon an anecdote at one such party.

His story elicited the usual guffaws at what most thought was the punchline.

However, the titters were slowly replaced by jaws dropping as it became apparent the bon vivant was, in fact, quite serious.

Pressure on city centre land prices is making fewer retail and office developments viable. The credit crunch and rising construction costs mean that new, affordable land opportunities have to be found.

Where better to build than in the dead centre of town? Cemeteries provide acres of prime land in some of the best city centre locations. He is looking into the law surrounding the removal of graves of a certain age, presumably for schemes with very small footprints.

The consensus was that the idea should be confined with other radical proposals like the roller-coaster ride on Edinburgh Castle's ramparts or the subterranean shopping mall below Princes Street Gardens.

Switching sides?

Developers are not normally regarded as the bastions of built heritage, but support for the status of class-B listed buildings came from an unlikely source recently.

A Scottish developer - with a pedigree in bringing difficult sites to fruition - lambasted a pilot scheme that moves control of 'Listed Building Consent' planning applications affecting category-B buildings from Historic Scotland to councils.

Only Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth& Kinross councils are participating in the trial but if it is a success it will be rolled out to all 34 Scottish planning authorities.

He maintains that, particularly in Edinburgh, councils have shown scant regard for the preservation of category-C listed buildings and that the move will threaten the next tier of buildings when cashstrapped councils see a chance to profit from demolishing a B-listed property.

However, his position as the bane of conservation groups is not so untenable. He is, in fairness, opposing a proposal brought forward by Historic Scotland.